I am having trouble trying to connect the VEXNet Joystick to a Windows 7 PC using the provided cable. It looks like a phone cable that plugs into the program port. I'm hope I'm correct in my understanding that I can tether the Joystick to the Cortex, and then compile and download programs to the Cortex without having to use a USB cable. Is this correct?

When I try plugging it in for the first time, the PC gives me the error that it can't communicate on that COMM port.

Is there something I missed? Thanks.

Thu Aug 30, 2012 11:45 am

JohnWatson

Site Admin

Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 12:15 pmPosts: 722

Re: Connecting to program port on VEXNext Joystick

Hello Klynn,

Check out this guide on our wiki that walks you through the setup process for VEXNet and ROBOTC and see if that helps (it's a fair amount of information that I don't think would translate well to a forum post). Also, note that you can not use the VEXNet USB keys (the black 802.11 adapters) to wirelessly communicate from a PC to a Cortex/Joystick. The keys are used to communicate between a Joystick and a Cortex only.

One of the biggest things that gets overlooked (and will be added to the wiki guide soon) is to set your communication mode in ROBOTC to 'VEXNet or USB' (under Robot-> VEX Cortex Communication Mode), downloading a program to the Cortex, and then powercycling. Unless these steps are taken, the communication mode will NOT be set on the Cortex and it will not be able to communicate over the VEXNet keys properly.

Thank you for your response. I do have the mode set to use either of them. I have been able to get one of the sample programs (dual joysticks) to run on the Cortex and allow me to more the robot with the joystick. I want to make sure I understand this correctly. Am I supposed to be able to tether the joystick to the Cortex and then using the keys communicate between them while the joystick is connected to the PC running RobotC? Thanks.

Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:27 pm

JohnWatson

Site Admin

Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 12:15 pmPosts: 722

Re: Connecting to program port on VEXNext Joystick

Yep, that's exactly how it works. Alternatively, you can load the program on the Cortex and then disconnect the joystick from the PC and run the robot remote controlled. The only downside of this is that you won't be able to have the real-time debugger going and you'll have to reconnect any time you want to load a program.

Thanks John, I've been able to complete those steps, and I can download a program to the Cortex through the USB cable and then link the Cortex and Joystick so that I can click a button on the joystick and do something. What I can't do though, is use data cable that runs into the joystick from the PC. In the device manager, it tells me that the device can't be started. The device is the Prolific USB-to-Serial COMM Port. Are there COM settings that need to be changed? Thanks.

Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:39 pm

jbflot

Site Admin

Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 9:02 amPosts: 409

Re: Connecting to program port on VEXNext Joystick

It sounds like it may be a driver issue. In Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel, make sure that you only have one version of the Prolific driver installed. If the version on the ROBOTC page isn't working, VEX has older versions of the driver that you might try, here: http://www.vexforum.com/wiki/index.php/ ... _Downloads

If you haven't already, it's always a good idea to try rebooting your computer after installing driver software.

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